


Numeric Halo

by KittySeeboo



Category: Tokyo Ghoul
Genre: Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Canon-Typical Violence, Dark Fantasy, Gen, M/M
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2018-05-29
Updated: 2018-05-30
Packaged: 2019-05-14 16:15:30
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 2
Words: 7,682
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/14772929
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/KittySeeboo/pseuds/KittySeeboo
Summary: Hideyoshi Nagachika has what he calls a Superman trait: when he touches someone, a halo of sunlit numbers forms above their head, circling and counting down to the rhythm of a clock until he lets them go. Only when death tails them do those same numbers burn black and quake; a silent mourning. At 18-years-old, Ken Kaneki's - Hide's best friend's - numbers shine with the promise of a long life... Until he meets Rize Kamishiro. But just because Kaneki has a penchant for tragedies doesn't mean Hide's going to let this one unfold.





	1. Superman Trait

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> And for a mad moment, Hide desperately wanted to disclose his secrets to him. Kaneki, I’ve always been able to see how long you had to live. You have a halo of yellow numbers that spins around your head that tells me. And you had a lot of time left until you got a date with that Rize. You only have until a few hours after your date with her to live. I think she might really be dangerous, so please don’t go on it!
> 
> Yeah, that’ll go over well. “Hide, you have a crazy imagination!” he’ll say. Then he’ll laugh so hard that he might never be depressed again. Huh. That’s not such a bad thing.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hey guys~ Kitty Seeboo here with my contribution to the Hide Big Bang 2018 event! I'm super excited to share this one with y'all! I'm gonna post it a chapter per day! :D
> 
> Please give a big hand for this absolute darling of an artist, Orogenese, for pinch-hitting for me on such short notice!
> 
> Special thanks to my absolute dear, timininimi, and to itshedaynagachika for beta-ing for me!
> 
> So without further ado, let the story begin!

Hide never understood how no one knew that Clark Kent shared an identity with Superman when the biggest difference between his civilian persona and his superhero alter ego was his eyes; one wore glasses, while the other did not. OK, granted not wearing his underwear on the outside also counted as a big change. But most people tended to focus on his face rather than his crotch, and if they got as close as Lois Lane did to both, they just had to notice that Clark Kent’s eyes were identical to Superman’s.

 

The only logical explanation Hide could assume — other than everyone in Metropolis City was either dumb or blind — was Superman gave them the Sics, aka the Superman Identity Crisis Syndrome. Meaning that he had something within him that blinded them, so that even if they had the slightest suspicion, they’d never make the connection. Something only he could see…

 

Hide never imagined the Sics would come into play in his life at any point, much less three times.

 

The **first** came when Hide discovered his Superman trait: when he touched someone, a halo of sunlit numbers would form above their head, circling and counting down to the rhythm of a clock until he let them go.

 

The first instance of this occurred when he introduced himself to Ken Kaneki, the quiet boy in his elementary school class who was always engrossed in some book. They shook hands, and a tiny, golden ball formed just above the crown of Kaneki’s head and quickly expanded into a series of numbers.

 

“Whoa!” He tried to touch them with his free hand, but his fingers slipped right through them.

 

“What are you doing?” Kaneki peered curiously at the hand Hide was wiggling above his head.

 

“Huh? Don’t you see them?” For a brief moment, Hide panicked and believed them to be the ghosts of the numbers he’d erased come back to haunt him, but quickly dismissed the thought.

 

Believing his new friend to have special powers seemed more reasonable at first.

 

“Is there something on my head?” Kaneki rested his book in his lap and gingerly patted his head with both hands. His fingers, too, could not touch them. In that moment, Hide realized that those numbers were visible only to him. “Hide! Is it a b-bee?”

 

“Nah! I’m just so worried about my math homework that I started seeing numbers!” Hide scratched his cheek. “I’m not very good at math.” Kaneki immediately, if softly, offered to help Hide, stating that his mother was highly intelligent and always helped him with his homework.

 

Then he met Kaneki’s mother, and when he shook her hand, he quietly gasped when he saw her numbers as well. Her numbers were far lower than Kaneki’s.

 

“Is something the matter?” she asked, glancing upwards before training her worried eyes back on him.

 

“It’s… nothing. I just think that Kaneki has a very pretty mother!”

 

But it hadn’t stopped with Kaneki and his mother; the twirling halo of numbers appeared for every person he touched. Hide thought it unlikely for everyone to have the exact power as Kaneki, and the ability to see those golden digits must have been his rare talent as not a person ever mentioned if they saw any halos circling his head.

 

Hide never saw his halo either. He’d checked his reflection for them in the bathroom on multiple occasions, grabbing his hands, shoulders, face, and even his ankles before realizing that he needed to see the mirror to notice them. Even when he tried simply looking up, Hide never spotted them.

 

He hadn’t realized what they indicated until Kaneki’s mother passed away.

 

When Hide had touched her shoulder to awaken her, as she’d fallen asleep whilst tending to her white carnations, the halo above her head spun like liquid tar, its numbers shaking as though terrified.

 

**1,123,200.321**

 

Hide had never seen the three digits following that dot before, and they dropped at a speed comparable to a master illusionist’s sleight of hand.

 

The next time he’d touched her — cold and dressed in white, her square-framed glasses resting on her chest — no numbers appeared.

 

It was then that Hide understood what they meant: how long the person had left alive, counted by seconds. When the countdown neared its final stretch, the milliseconds would become visible.

 

From then on, he made it a priority to check Kaneki’s often. Holding his hand (more so when they were still children), hugging him (especially after Kaneki lost his mother), clasping his shoulders (sometimes in a warm greeting, sometimes to shake some sense into his depressed brain). His numbers, though gradually declining, always appeared acceptable.

 

That was the case until they encountered a woman with whom Kaneki became infatuated before he even learned her name.

* * *

  
“You look like you’re in love.” Surprising Kaneki was the most efficient way (if not the only way) to steal his attention from the wicked clutches of whatever novel bewitched him. Hide watched Kaneki’s cheeks and ears redden, and grinned when he began to sputter lame denials. He could at least try to keep his hand away from his chin; that alone was such an obvious tell of attempted deception. “Spit it out. For whom does the wedding bell toll this time?”

 

“How did you even…?”

 

“You just told me.” Kaneki was easier to read than any book, and far more entertaining than most. “Wanna discuss wedding plans over some hamburgers? Big Girl is calling our names!”

 

It was nearing noon. They had enough time to have some succulent hamburger steaks at their favorite restaurant, Big Girl, and chat a little about Kaneki’s crush before heading back to the university for Asian History.

 

“Hide, it’s not like that.”

 

“So, you don’t want me to treat you to some tasty hamburgers?” Kaneki could look as irritated as he wanted, because Hide knew he couldn’t resist the temptation that was a delicious Big Girl burger steak. One bite was all he’d need to swallow down that scowl and chill out.

 

Once they arrived at the restaurant and were seated, they ordered their favorites. For Hide, that was the deluxe hamburger steak, and for Kaneki, the hamburger steak.

 

While he waited for Kaneki to spill the details on his mystery girl, Hide savored the rich juiciness that flooded his mouth with each bite. Come next week, a spicy version would be available for a limited time, and Hide couldn’t wait to try it. To taste the thrilling heat that would pepper his tongue and lips.

 

“I…” Hide looked at Kaneki. It had taken him several quick, nervous gulps of his burger to finally muster up the courage to admit what Hide already knew. “So, I met this girl.” Despite his timid stammer, Hide could feel his lovelorn excitement.

 

“Cool. Does she know that?”

 

“Hide!”

 

“What’s her name?” Kaneki glanced down at his half-eaten burger. Hide arched his eyebrows as he continued. “You know the point of meeting someone you like is to introduce yourself and find out their name, right?” Again, Kaneki said nothing, and Hide realized that the situation between Kaneki and his mystery girl was exactly as he joked. She didn’t even know Kaneki existed. “You’ve got to be kidding me.”

 

“The opportunity never arose!”

 

“So what? Do you just read that ‘Black Goat Cheese’ book and sneak glances at her like a creeper?”

 

Kaneki flushed at Hide’s word choice and shifted uncomfortably. “It’s ‘The Black Goat’s Egg’, Hide.”

 

“You do sneak glances at her like a creeper.” Hide sighed and mercifully continued before Kaneki could further incriminate himself. “Where’d you stalk her?”

 

“I didn’t stalk—”

 

“The library?”

 

“—her. Ah, no. I met her at a coffee shop.”

 

Hide took another bite of his burger. There was no sense in letting it turn into a burger-popsicle. “Do you know if she goes to Kamii?”

 

“Hide, don’t talk with your mouth full,” he chastised.

 

“Kaneki—”

 

“I don’t think so.”

 

Neither he nor Kaneki knew anything about this girl except for two things. One: she must have been quite the beauty for Kaneki to be smitten with her despite not even knowing her name. Two: she seemingly frequented the same coffee shop as Kaneki.

 

Kaneki was no Casanova, and though Hide occasionally enjoyed teasing Kaneki about his awkward social tendencies, the situation with this girl left him uneasy. Perhaps if he saw her, he’d calm down a bit.

 

“…It’s settled then.” Hide stuffed down the last bit of his hamburger and wiped his mouth. “Let’s go to that coffee shop after you’re done with classes. It’s not far, is it?”

 

“No. Not too far… Hide, don’t you have work? You really don’t need to.”

 

Hide shrugged. “I’ve got to see this mysterious coffee shop girl at least once. Hey, what’s the name of this place anyway?”

 

“It’s called ‘Anteiku’.”

* * *

  
Hide often felt conflicted whenever he visited Anteiku. Like he’d entered a prison that strangely carried the comfort of home, enclosed by coffee-flavored walls painted with the colors of a cinnamon-topped cappuccino.

 

He sat across from Kaneki at a round dining table near one of the floor length windows. Kaneki ordered a black coffee with sugar to accompany his copy of ‘The Black Goat’s Egg’, and Hide got a sweet, foamy cappuccino of unrivalled deliciousness.

 

The moment the pretty, dark-haired waitress finished scribbling down their orders, Hide asked, “What’s your name?” Something he’d never asked before, never really needed to. Hide couldn’t stop himself from grinning when he did, especially when Kaneki jerked at his rather abrupt question. He needn’t be so shy! Hide simply wanted Kaneki to at least know the name of his girlfriend-to-be, as Hide was certain she was the one Kaneki wanted to take on his dream 'bookstore date'.

 

“It’s Kirishima Touka.”

 

Upon learning her name, Hide shot up, clasped her hands, and watched her sunlit halo beam. Her left eye, the one not concealed by her long bangs, widened at his sudden closeness. “My name is Nagachika Hideyoshi! Touka-chan! Are you seeing anyone?” Hide knew that his behavior appeared as though — as Kaneki jumped to his feet and reprimanded — his “brain was malfunctioning” to poor Touka, who barely uttered a hasty denial before retreating, but he simply couldn’t curb his excitement. “How lovely.” Hide sighed happily.

 

“What am I supposed to do if I get kicked out of here?” First, he scared off Touka, and then he incurred Kaneki’s wrath, but he made an opening nonetheless.

 

“I can understand why you like her. She’s really cute.” Hide closed his eyes and crossed his arms, deciding to tease Kaneki a bit more. “That’s why I asked her out first.”

 

“Hide, that’s not her.” His answer momentarily stunned Hide, who dropped his arms and stared at him wide-eyed. Then, that uneasy dread began creeping back into the pit of his stomach. Kaneki sat back down and Hide followed suit. “But she’s also pretty cute. The girl I was talking about isn’t here yet.”

 

The girl — woman would be more correct — Kaneki spoke of arrived with the chime of the doorbell. A pale, slender beauty with lavender hair that trailed midway down the back of her flowing white dress, which — while it presented the illusion of girlish grace — clung sensually to her waist and accented her firm breasts.

 

The look on Kaneki’s face when he laid eyes upon her hailed her as a princess that walked right out of a fairytale. Hide prayed that Kaneki knew something about her that he didn’t, because her presence alarmed him. Something about her drained even the warmth from the air.

 

From the flat screen mounted on the wall behind him, Hide heard the news anchorwoman report on the savage ghoul attack at the 20th Ward’s Aqua Building the night before — and the gory details of how they had ripped apart and greedily devoured several men before fleeing the scene — pierced the peaceful atmosphere like a siren’s blare. The Commission of Counter Ghoul’s, aka the CCG’s, speculated that the slayings seemed to be the work of a single voracious ghoul.

 

The manager must have intentionally flipped to that channel as a warning for his café’s human customers.

 

He smiled gently at Kaneki. Then he advised, “Give up. Let’s talk about poop instead.” It stung when he saw Kaneki’s crushed expression.

 

“What? Y-You said you’d help me come up with a plan! Didn’t you? Are you abandoning me, Hide?” And his crestfallen tone was the burning venom from that sting.

 

“Listen, Kaneki. Plans are things you make when you have a chance at succeeding. That girl… I bet if she took off her glasses, she’d transform.”

 

“I do have a chance!” Kaneki’s adamant hopefulness threw Hide off a bit. “Maybe… We’ve only met a few times, but, whenever our eyes met, she’d smile slightly at me. Maybe there’s a chance that she—”

 

“Kaneki. That’s because you’re staring at her too much. And she finds it so creepy that she instinctively smirks in disgust.” There had to be a better way than shattering Kaneki’s already nonexistent self-esteem to divert his focus from that dangerous woman.

 

Kaneki spoke before Hide had the chance to even contemplate an excuse.

 

“I know that I’m creepy, and that we don’t suit each other. But just looking at her makes me happy.” Words full of self-loathing but tinged with a wistful longing for the one thing Kaneki had been denied his whole life: happiness.

 

Hide thought, how selfish he was, trying to jeopardize Kaneki’s shred of discovered paradise because he assumed the woman he’d fallen for might have been familiar, might have been someone to be wary of. And he had not a scrap of concrete evidence to support either of his assumptions.

 

Though Hide had his reservations about choosing a woman based solely on looks, if this one turned out to be Kaneki’s fairytale love, who was he to interfere? As a best friend, his duty would be to cheer Kaneki on when the time was right.

 

As a part-time worker, his current duty was to make it to work before his shift began.

* * *

  
The next day, they sat at one of the picnic benches in Kamii’s main quad, and Hide listened to Kaneki’s enthused speech about he would be going on a ‘dream bookstore date’ with the woman they saw at Anteiku.

 

Rize Kamishiro, the name of the woman Kaneki fell for, shared his passion for Takatsuki’s works. Coincidentally, Rize had brought her copy of the same work Kaneki enjoyed. Thus, a connection was born and a date was set.

 

“Whatever.” Hide never thought his friend’s bookstore date would happen because of 'The Black Goat’s Egg'. Nonetheless, he expected to hear every detail of how it went. Hide reached forward and patted his shoulder, saying, “Go and have fun—” _What…?_ His encouragement slid back down his throat and nearly choked him. Kaneki’s halo of numbers looked like his mother’s when she was near death: smeared with a blackness that not even sunlight could penetrate, fearfully shivering, and — now — counted down by milliseconds.

 

Hide truly hated those three, thieving digits.

 

**201,900.013**

 

It was so much shorter than his mother’s had been.

 

Hide sat back.

 

It made zero sense. Just yesterday, when he’d slung his arm across Kaneki’s shoulders in hello, his numbers had been golden.

 

The only difference between today and yesterday was that Kaneki had miraculously gotten a date with Rize.

 

“Actually, your date’s Sunday, isn’t it?” Kaneki confirmed this. “Around what time?”

 

“Four thirty. Why?” From roughly midday on Friday to 4:30 p.m. on Sunday, Hide deduced Kaneki’s time of death to be mere hours after he’d meet with Rize.

 

“Kaneki!” He shot forward and grabbed Kaneki’s shoulders, startling him so terribly that he would have fallen straight back if not for Hide’s hold. “Did you forget that our Asian History papers are due Monday?” They were due on Monday, but two Mondays after this.

 

“This Monday? That can’t be right.”

 

“I thought so too, until I checked a little ago. Dude, did you even start?”

 

“N-No. I can probably get it done by tomorrow, though.”

 

“I think you should call off the date.”

 

“What?” Kaneki looked aghast, like someone grilled solidified vomit and put it on his favorite hamburger. “I won’t do that! I’ll be able to do both! Besides, what if she doesn’t want to reschedule if I cancel for a paper?”

 

“Eh? It’s worth twenty percent of your grade! Are you sure you wanna half-ass it like that?”

 

Kaneki stood, and Hide quickly went to his side and laid a hand on his shoulder, determined to see that halo rid itself of that Stygian cloak. “Hide, are you sure it’s due this Monday?”

 

“I’m positive.” Hide scratched his cheek. “Come on, if you want that ‘bookstore date’ so bad still, let’s go to the library and get our papers done!”

 

“You haven’t done yours either, Hide?”

 

“Don’t you go trying to lecture me. These are busy times for college students, Kaneki. Besides, you like Asian History way more than I do.”

 

“I suppose I don’t have much of a choice.” The halo flickered gold and the numbers began rising, but it quickly faltered to its state of eerie darkness. Kaneki touched his chin and said, “I’ll call off the date with Rize-san.”

 

“Can’t you just trust me on this one?” Hide hoped he kept the pleading note out of his words, but — judging by the funny look Kaneki gave him — it seemed that he’d failed.

 

“I do trust you.” At least he didn’t touch his chin, but the numbers still continued to fall. “We should get going. Class will be starting soon.” Asian History, more specifically, and Hide suspected that he knew exactly what Kaneki would do once they got there.

* * *

  
He was proven right when Kaneki headed straight to the professor after class. Though Hide was out of earshot, he knew that his friend would be asking about the paper’s due date. The professor’s answer brought a relieved smile to Kaneki’s face, and Hide felt like he'd drunk liquid nitrogen.

 

“Hide, it’s okay. It’s not due for two weeks,” Kaneki announced as he bounded his way back to Hide. “You must have gotten the dates mixed up.”

 

“Yeah.”

 

“Isn’t that great? I don’t have to cancel with Rize-san now.” There were only two reasons that Kaneki wasn’t doing a happy dance as they spoke. One: Kaneki never liked making himself a spectacle. Two: Kaneki couldn’t even tap his foot without somehow tripping over it.

 

“Great.”

 

“Is something the matter, Hide?”

 

“I still think we should work on our papers this weekend. It’s no good to leave things for last minute.”

 

“One date isn’t going to—”

 

“You don’t know that.” He knew how much Kaneki hated confrontations. Even since they were in elementary school, Kaneki would rather endure being bullied by their cruel classmates than defend himself. “It’s just… you don’t really know this girl. She might be trying to pull a really mean prank on you.” _Or she’s trying to kill you._

 

“Or she could actually like someone me.” Kaneki should really try swallowing his resentment before speaking; talking with his mouth full was rude. But Hide couldn’t blame him for it. He could imagine how horrible a friend Kaneki thought him to be in this moment.

 

“Kaneki.” He tensed when Hide placed a hand on his shoulder, but didn’t shrug him off, for which Hide was grateful; he needed to know that Kaneki was going to listen to him and not hate him. “You’re right. Some people do get lucky. But I need you to understand that, no matter what you might think of me right now, I’m just looking out for you. That’s what best friends are for.” _Why won’t you just change back already?_ His patience was nearing its breaking point.

 

“I know you’re always looking out for me, but I think you should trust me a little more, Hide.”

 

 _It’s not you that I distrust._ And for a mad moment, Hide desperately wanted to disclose his secrets to him. _Kaneki, I’ve always been able to see how long you had to live. You have a halo of yellow numbers that spins around your head that tells me. And you had a lot of time left until you got a date with that Rize. You only have until a few hours after your date with her to live. I think she might really be dangerous, so please don’t go on it!_

 

_Yeah, that’ll go over well. “Hide, you have a crazy imagination!” he’ll say. Then he’ll laugh so hard that he might never be depressed again. Huh. That’s not such a bad thing._

 

“Hide, you’re not jealous of me, are you?” Though he kept his tone playful and light, Kaneki’s quicksilver eyes told Hide that the question was anything but.

 

“Ha! You joking? Jealous for what?” And that’s when Hide understood that Kaneki wasn’t going to heed his advice.

 

“It’s… I’m sorry, Hide. Anyone can mix up dates. Thanks for looking out for me, Hide.” Kaneki moved away, breaking contact with Hide. “Let’s work on our papers together this week, and I can tell you how it went, too.”

 

“Kaneki.” He caught Kaneki by the arm, but he didn’t bristle or tense up this time. “I really am glad to see you so happy. Believe me when I say, the last thing I’d ever want is for you to get hurt.” Kaneki gifted him with a smile that rivaled the one etched to his lips the day Hide helped him retrieve the novels — the ones that connected Kaneki to his father; the only ones that lit a lively flame in his cloudy grey eyes — his aunt had maliciously thrown out.

 

A smile he wanted to be able to see for years to come.

 

Hide decided that he would have to go on a little date of his own with Rize. He’d rather have a strained friendship than none at all.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Alrighty! Hope you've enjoyed so far~ Tomorrow chapter 2 will be posted! And also, characters will be added as we progress! So thank you for reading! Leave a kudos and a comment if you enjoyed it! I love the feedback from you all!


	2. Law Abiding

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> “Only about a minute left now, Kaneki-kun, Hide. What a narrow escape you’ve made for yourselves!” Quite literally at that. A long, linear path with cold, stagnant water for a floor that soaked through his sneakers, lit by an array of caged, incandescent bulbs that led directly to a dead end. “Though, I wish you hadn’t picked here.” She pinched her nose shut and continued, “I don’t wanna eat in a smelly sewer.” There she went again, whining like a spoiled brat, not a single care for the lives she yearned to reap. Then, with a heavy sigh, she compromised, “Guess I’ll just cut your feet off and take you up top.”

Saturday evening, in the little café called Anteiku, Hide found Rize sitting in the same chair that Kaneki had sat in. Her eyes zoomed to the door as soon as he entered. He’d expected her attention to return instantly to the novel, ‘Dear Kafka’ by Sen Takatsuki, she held in her hand.  Instead, she smirked and beckoned him over.

 

“You’re Nagachika-san. Kaneki-kun’s friend, right?” He nodded tersely. “He spoke so much about you yesterday.”

 

“He did?”

 

She nodded. “I honestly thought he was trying to get me interested in you for a while!” He could see why someone as gullible and lonely as Kaneki fell for her wiles. A pretty face could make even her simpering appear genuine and seductive.

 

“Are you looking for Kaneki-kun?”

 

“…Actually, I was looking for you.” That pleased her. “Kamishiro-san, right?”

 

“Call me Rize.”

 

And he said to her the same thing he’d told Kaneki the day they first met as he sat down, “You can call me Hide.”

 

The manager personally serviced them. A man named Yoshimura of prominent eyes that appeared perpetually shut, and grey hair in that same slicked-back style he must have spent a lifetime perfecting. Really showed off the deep worry lines practically carved into his forehead. Though he addressed them courteously enough, he’d get this displeased look on his face whenever he looked at Hide, like he’d caught him licking every single one of his coffee beans.

 

Hide ordered a cappuccino, and she ordered a black coffee, and when he returned with them, he said, “It’ll be dark soon, so don’t stay out too much longer. It would be wise not to draw any attention to yourselves, especially with the recent attacks.” Ever a man of cryptic words.

 

“No worries! We won’t be long! Besides, it’s a full moon out tonight. I bet even ghouls would be afraid of werewolves.” Rize covered her mouth and giggled, and Yoshimura gently shook his head. Not even a hint of a smile. “Hey, Boss-man, should I hold my breath for Touka-chan coming in tonight? Her cappuccinos are the best!”

 

He turned fully towards Hide then, not cracking an eye open in the slightest, but he could somehow feel the man’s gaze like the unwavering snare of a spotlight. Another thing Hide really liked in addition to foreign entertainment was learning the geography of various places, from Tokyo’s layout to that of foreign countries. Hide could safely say the only thing deeper than his worry lines in this moment might just be the Grand Canyon. “Touka-chan won’t be in tonight. But if you come by tomorrow morning, she’d be more than happy to make you one. But don’t drink this one down too quickly now.” he cautioned. Then he bowed slightly and left.

 

Hide gently touched the back of Rize’s hand, which partially hid the novel’s title, and caught a glimpse of her numbers: quaking and black as her coffee, but not nearly as delicious.

 

**39613.500**

 

“Kaneki really likes this Tilapia Sun’s novels, too. It’s all he ever read for a while,” he commented, forcing his focus to meet her amused gaze.

 

Death’s shadow tailed her, and it gained the perfect opportunity to encroach on his best friend’s life through their chance meeting. But, strangely, her numbers were far lower than Kaneki’s. If Hide’s calculations were correct, she had less than two hours left alive.

 

It could be that she and Kaneki made an ill-fated pair. Like Romeo and Juliet, their meeting portended tragedy.

 

_Or maybe karma’s catching up to her,_ came the unbidden, malicious thought.

 

“You mean Takatsuki Sen?” she giggled, deftly slipping the novel into Hide’s hand, but maintaining contact. “This one’s my favorite. The way the main character longs for her father really resonates with me. Kaneki enjoyed this one as well.” ‘Dear Kafka’ had been the first novel that Kaneki excitedly loaned to Hide in hopes that they could sit and discuss it, but Hide could barely flip past the prologue of its despair-drenched pages. Tragedy just wasn’t his thing.

 

She continued, “We were going to discuss it together.” She gnawed on her lip, and tilted her head a little to glance up at Hide through her eyelashes. “Though, I wasn’t sure if he’d like where I wanted to go.”

 

“Really? He wouldn’t stop talking about how excited he was to go on that bookstore date with you yesterday. I don’t really get the appeal of a bookstore date, though.”

 

“You don’t like reading, Hide?”

 

“Only things that catch my interest. Manga, usually.”

 

“Bookstores do have manga, you know?”

 

“Yeah, but I wouldn’t make a date out of ‘em.” Hide took a sip of his cappuccino. “Kaneki really likes you.”

 

She replied that she liked him as well.

 

“But sometimes he doesn’t think,” Hide stated and shook his head.

 

A puzzled look crossed Rize’s face. “What do you mean?”

 

Hide told her the same lie he’d told Kaneki about their papers being due this Monday, altering slightly to make it seem as though Kaneki had forgotten that he would be meeting with Hide this Sunday to finish up. Kaneki, he continued, feared that she wouldn’t want to go out with him anymore if he told her that he needed to reschedule for a mere paper, which happened to be worth 20% of their grade.

 

“Oh, dear. Kaneki should have said something! I wouldn’t have minded.”

 

“That’s what I kept telling him, but he’s more stubborn than he looks.”

 

“I’ll text him right now, and ask him to reschedule.” Rize pulled her cellphone out of her purse.

 

Hide reached forward and caught her hand. “Do me a favor? Don’t tell him I told you. Make some other reason up.” Before she could ask why, he elaborated, “Kaneki will get all depressed if he finds out you know. He has a bad habit of thinking everything’s his fault.” Not even a speck of gold glimmered in her numbers.

 

“You’re such a good friend, Hide.” Her smile looked as honest as a politician’s. Then she texted Kaneki, he assumed, so he leaned back and sipped down the rest of his drink. He caught a slim, metal band between his teeth. He blotted his mouth with his napkin and hid the band inside it before crumpling it and shoving it in pants pocket.

 

Rize didn’t appear to notice. “Hide, would you mind coming to that bookstore with me?”

 

Hide arched his eyebrows. “How come?”

 

“You’d know what Kaneki likes best. I figured you could give me some advice for next time.”

 

“As long as it has books and Takatsuki’s novels, you’ll be fine.” He didn’t want to be rude, but he also didn’t want to be near her when she died. “Don’t sweat it. Even if it sucks, Kaneki’s too taken with you to care.”

 

“Please? I really want to go somewhere Kaneki would have a good time.”

 

“Maybe another time. I’ve gotta start working on that paper myself.” She placed her hand atop his when he placed his money down. Like Kaneki, she also didn’t hide her irritation very well.

 

“I know you think I might be trying to trick Kaneki, Hide. I saw how you were glaring at me.” His attempt at denial tasted bland. “It’s not very often that someone’s interested in me for the books I like. It’s refreshing! So, please believe that I only want to have a good time with Kaneki.” She firmly squeezed his hand. “And I’d also like us to get along.”

 

“…Rize, I’ll go with you, but another time. Go home, and forget about whatever you were going to do tonight. Didn’t you hear Boss-man? About those ghoul attacks? It’s kinda scary. You should get home before it gets—” He’d lost track of time, enough for the sun to vanish beneath the horizon of lilac clouds in the inky blue sky, the full moon its grey stain. “...Before it gets dark.”

 

Could it be that it would be his fault she’d die tonight? Because she’d sat here speaking with him rather than went home quickly and safely?

 

Rize nibbled worriedly at her lower lip. “I didn’t realize it was already so late.” She abruptly stood. “I should go.”

 

“Will you be alright?”

 

Rize fixed her gaze on her coffee. “The truth is, Hide, I live near where the recent ghoul attacks happened.” She suddenly looked as though she couldn’t stomach another drop of it. “I’m really frightened of things like that. Even now, I can’t stop shaking when I think about them. And now you’re out late, too, because of me. I’m sorry, Hide.”

 

The same words Kaneki said when his aunt threw out all of his novels, tears flowing ceaselessly as he gave Hide an empty smile.

 

“I’ll walk you home.” Hide dug in his pockets and dropped more money on the table. “You probably would’ve left before now if it wasn’t for me anyway. It’s the least I can do.”

 

She hid her face, as though trying to discreetly wipe her eyes, but Hide didn’t miss her smile. Black and shivering like her numbers.  


* * *

  
He honestly hadn’t expected her to lead him straight to Kaneki.

 

She led him down a few backways, insisting they were shortcuts she used regularly for a quick trip home. Though, Hide deliberately chose routes that CCG Investigators regularly paroled. Safer for travel, even if it took a bit longer, he explained, and Rize would follow with a scripted smile and a tight “thank you”. After twenty minutes or so, they came across Kaneki standing in the archway of a little bookstore, clutching his ‘Dear Kafka’ novel to his chest.

 

“Hide? What are you doing with Rize-san?”

 

“Why are you out here so late?” Hide resisted the urge to check on his numbers.

 

“Rize-san asked me to meet her here. We’re going to discuss ‘Dear Kafka’ together… Why are you with — Rize-san? What are you doing?”

 

She quietly giggled, as though amused by them. “You’re quite dense, aren’t you, Kaneki-kun? Isn’t it obvious? You must have read about these when you were in high school.”

 

“I… I don’t understand.” Neither did Hide.

 

“L-O-V-E,” she spelled out as she drew an air triangle with her index fingers. “Love triangle, Kaneki-kun. You’re caught in one!” She moved a little back, towards the street, positioning herself in between himself and Kaneki. “It’s quite fun! I’ve always enjoyed being part of these.”

 

The **second** time the Sics made its presence known in his life happened when Rize Kamishiro removed her glasses, slipping the tip between her teeth, letting her eyes flutter shut as though to savor the moment. When she opened her eyes again, they held not even a flicker of humanity. Nothing but an abysmal darkness for scleras and pools of red spider lilies for irises; the eyes of a ghoul. Faced with this demonic Superman, Hide thought the Sics to be truly a horrid disease.

 

One thought instantly reignited his numb mind: _I need to protect Kaneki. I need him to run away._

 

Something that looked like a giant, bloodied worm shot from her lower back and straight for him. It would have torn clean through his stomach had he not leapt out of its way.

 

_Her kagune,_ he realized. A ghoul’s natural and deadly battle apparatus. Hers being from the lower back region meant: _She’s a Rinkaku type._

 

He couldn’t dodge the second kagune that appeared, but luckily Rize didn’t aim to spear him this time. Instead, she batted Hide away with inhuman force and sent him hurtling headfirst into the shadows stretching along the alleyway beside the bookstore. He ricocheted off the asphalt once, excruciating agony exploding along the back of his head where it slammed down, before he landed in a painful heap.

 

Kaneki screamed for him, so piercing that it ripped through the gauzy haze stuffing his mind. A scream that warped and twisted and came barreling towards him, breaking only when Kaneki crashed atop him seconds later.

 

“Oh! You’ve got a very thick head, Hide. I thought you’re brains would’ve been splattered all over! Maybe there’s none, hmm? Since you don’t read very much.” Her voice filled with a psychotic thrill.

 

“Hide! Are you alright?” No blood on Kaneki, and his numbers flickered between gold and black so rapidly that Hide couldn’t read them; probably a good sign for now. “Hide—” Kaneki reached up, fingers trembling as they swiped right above his eyebrow “—you’re bleeding.” A little cut near his eyebrow? From being struck down like that? No wonder there weren’t any stars in the sky tonight; Hide used up all their luck.

 

“Kaneki-kun, don’t you want to know why Hide and I were together?” She crouched mere feet from them, retracting her kagune. Her eyes looked human again.

 

Hide quickly collared Kaneki and scrambled back, dragging his paralyzed friend and half-tossing him behind him in his haste. Kaneki gripped his shoulder, as though looking for something to ground himself.

 

No CCG investigators would patrol this area until 15 minutes from now.

 

“He wanted me to call off our date tomorrow. If I didn’t know better, I’d swear Hide thought that I’d just gobble you right up!”

 

Kaneki twitched at her words, finally shifting his petrified gaze to meet hers. “You have a paper due Monday? How about you do it on ghouls? I can tell you everything you need to know.” She winked, then tapped her index to her lip and glanced upward, faux thoughtfulness in her smile. “Though… I’d have to kill you, of course.”

 

Rize could. _So why didn’t she?_ Could kill and devour them and leave the area long before any investigators arrived. _How are we not already dead?_ They had nowhere to hide that she couldn’t immediately spot them; nowhere to run except into her arms or into the solid wall behind them.

 

No way to save themselves. Not unless one of them became bait.

 

“Hide.” She moved so quickly, now sitting on her haunches before them, her palm resting in Hide’s lap. “Did you know? That I’m a ghoul? Is that why you tried to sabotage our date?”

 

He kept his gaze level with hers. “How would I?”

 

“You knew to dodge. And you’re not scared. Even now, you’re not scared. But Kaneki-kun is.”

 

“Eh? I didn’t know I wasn’t scared.”

 

“Hmm? Then, could it be that you wanted Ka-ne-ki—” one, two, three light taps of her index against him to punctuate each syllable; three taps that set an idea in motion “—all for yourself? How greedy. Naughty, greedy Hide.”

 

A hasty one with a 99.9% margin for total failure that should — by all means — end with Hide losing his life regardless of the outcome.

 

“Likewise. It’s bad manners to eat your dates.” He pointedly looked towards the alley’s entranceway and screamed, “HELP US!” The second she jolted back and whipped her head towards the entrance, Hide tackled her, pinned her, and shouted, “RUN!”

 

But he’d seen the flicker of gold in Kaneki’s halo. Because of his split decision. Because this might be Kaneki’s one chance to survive, even if Hide’s crazy plan would only buy him a few seconds at best.

 

Rize’s numbers, on the other hand, didn’t waver.

 

Could it be that he was wrong about the investigators’ patrol time here? Were they truly going to make it in time?

 

In time… In time to save who? For both him and Ken to be saved? Or did both Hide’s and Rize’s numbers match, practically melting away in their lust to reach zero.

 

He heard Kaneki scramble to his feet.

 

“God… could you be any more boring, Hide?” Did she just whine at him? “You’re really going to play the goody-goody, self-sacrificing best friend role?” _No_ , he realized, _it’s a warning_ . A warning she punctuated when she let him watch her eyes bleed black once more. “Don’t make me lose my appetite.” And Hide felt it — a sudden, violent fear — coil around his spine and rattle him as it sprung with an echoing wail: _YOU’RE GOING TO FUCKING DIE!_

 

“Hide!” Kaneki — with his two, wonderful left feet — crashed right into him as he tried to flee, and knocked him off of Rize. He saw them change a split second before he lost all contact; rise though the blackness lacing her numbers remained.

 

“What are you — ACK!”

 

With both hands, Kaneki yanked him by the scruff of his neck, repeatedly, desperately, accidentally choking Hide with all his might. “Get up!” His voice, strained and helplessly frantic. “We have to run!”

 

Kaneki wanted to protect him, even at the cost of his own life.

 

“God… Dammit! Kaneki!” Hide shoved himself up and forward, seized Kaneki’s wrist, and bolted. They needed to get the hell out of shit creek, but the only way Hide could think of to lose Rize was to dive headfirst into the sewers.

 

“I’m giving you a head start!” Rize called after them, a debauched delight on the tip of her tongue that set off the same alarm he’d heard in his head when he first saw her. And when he dropped he made sure he fell atop of Kaneki, hands braced on either side of him. He heard the _whoosh_ of her kagune as it rocketed past them overhead.

 

And when he met Kaneki’s eyes, all Hide could whisper was, “Stay with me. OK, Kaneki? Stay with me.”

 

“Oh! You really are pretty good, hm? Looks like you have some brains after all! Well then, you definitely deserve an even bigger head start! I’ll give you three whole minutes! Starting right after you finish making-out with Kaneki-kun over there.”

 

Hide wasted no time in hauling Kaneki out of her reach.

 

“Aren’t I just thoughtful?” she giggled. “I always love a good chase. And when I catch you, I’ll make sure to rip your guts out first, Hide! I’ll do it nice and slow for you. Then it’ll be your turn, Kaneki-kun!”  


* * *

  
Sharp left round the corner. Two blocks back the way he and Rize came. A minute and a half in a breathless sprint. Halfway down a narrow alley between two, glassy skyscrapers. An open manhole from which a stale, disgustingly sweet stink wafted. A quick drop to the underground.

 

“I hope you wore your swim trunks.” Hide teased, grinning when Kaneki paused his descent and shot him this glare that just _begged_ him to just push a little more. Make things feel a little normal if only for a second.

 

“Hide! Hurry up and let’s go!” came his harsh whisper, but he couldn’t hide the way his lips twitched.

 

Hide beamed. “Made you smile.”

 

He glanced upwards as he hastily made to follow Kaneki and saw her, a nightmare of living, slithering shadows backlit by the eerie radiance of the full moon. Close enough that he saw flashes of crescented red. Like she was smiling, thrilled to cheat at her own hunt. When she realized he’d spotted her, she propelled herself off the glass, shattering the surrounding panes, and flared her kagune, four enormous spears of squirming scarlet all poised to strike.

 

He’d never moved faster in his life. Skating partially down the ladder before dropping down the rest of the way, landing with a splash, and had he not instantly gone for Kaneki — to shield him from the dramatic impact he was sure she would make — Rize would have landed right on top of him. Jagged debris rained down on them when her kagune smashed through, and Hide’s vision swam when one struck his temple.

 

“Fucking psycho Superman,” Hide mumbled. Once his vision righted itself — “Kaneki, are you alright?” No blood on him.  _Thank goodness._ Kaneki had gotten lucky a second time now. But his numbers had become totally unreadable with how they blinked between sunlight and midnight.

 

Kaneki gave him no answer, though, his eyes glued to the spot where he’d been struck. “Hide…” Hide had never seen such a horrified look on his best friend’s face before.

 

“Only about a minute left now, Kaneki-kun, Hide. What a narrow escape you’ve made for yourselves!” Quite literally at that. A long, linear path with cold, stagnant water for a floor that soaked through his sneakers, lit by an array of caged, incandescent bulbs that led directly to a dead end. “Though, I wish you hadn’t picked here.” She pinched her nose shut and continued, “I don’t wanna eat in a smelly sewer.” There she went again, whining like a spoiled brat, not a single care for the lives she yearned to reap. Then, with a heavy sigh, she compromised, “Guess I’ll just cut your feet off and take you up top.”

 

“HELP!” Hide flinched at Kaneki’s sudden bawl, his prayer dyed gray and desperate. Though Kaneki wasn’t the strongest of guys, his grip on Hide’s shoulder felt strong as iron. “SOMEONE HELP US! PLEASE!”

 

“Yes! Oh, someone! Anyone!” Rize twirled once on the spot, a manic glee infecting her giggles. “Please come save these stupid boys!” And as suddenly as she began taunting them, she stopped and studied them, as though puzzled. Then she inhaled deeply, her eyes fluttering close, almost like she’d discovered something worth longing for.

 

_That or she’s into shit._

 

She sighed with pleasure, “Hide, your blood, it smells _so_ good.” His blood? From that little cut? _Or..._ Then he immediately realized what Kaneki had been looking at, and his hand flew to his left temple and he hissed at how painful it felt to even skin his fingers across the tender skin. And when he glanced as his hands, he saw far more than a tiny swipe of blood this time. It dripped down his cheek, his chin, and into the murky water. “I can’t wait to find out how you taste. About thirty more seconds.”

 

He yanked Kaneki by his collar and yelled, “Come on!”

 

Everything down here was connected. One giant lung; a living labyrinth of branching passageways that all linked back to the root. Even something that looked like a dead-end tied right in.

 

When they reached the halfway mark, Hide heard Rize soundoff, “Fifteen!” and he saw the joined opening of a narrow tunnel, distinguished from the rest of the wall by the way the stone surrounding it protruded a few inches outward. One step up and out of the water. “Fourteen!” He made to follow Kaneki up, keeping one hand on his collar so he wouldn’t sprint off as he pressed his fingertips to the wall nearest the opening; the wrong way. “Thirteen!”

 

It had to show. The openings just had to show. There had to be at least one more. Even if he could just catch a glimpse of a raised edge in this piss poor lighting. “Twelve!”

 

“There!” Just ahead! That had to be the one!

 

“Eleven!”

 

“Wha — Hide! Wait! Where are you going?”

 

“Ten!” He tried the same process again, wiping more blood from his cut to use, but still nothing. “ **Nine!** ” A pang of primal hunger resounded in her shout, and he stared at Rize — at the way she hunched forward as though ready to spring at them, her fearsome kagune writhing anxiously, at the way her darkened frame practically vibrating with anticipation, at how only the red of her eyes and her malevolent Cheshire grin glowed beneath the gray moonlight — the incarnation of fear. “ **Eight!** ”

 

“Fuck! Run, Kaneki! Further down!” It had to be further down!

 

“ **Seven!** ”

 

“Hide! We’ll run into the wall!” Kaneki shrieked out, stumbling as if to try and slow down and pull Hide back, but Hide had always been the stronger one, thankfully. “We can still—!”

 

“There’s no time!”

 

“ **Six!** ”

 

“WE’LL DIE!”

 

“ **FIVE!** ”

 

“Quit trying to turn this into a tragedy!” He couldn’t allow this fear to infect him more than it already had.

 

“ **FOUR!** ”

 

Hide continued, “It’s fucking at the end! I know it is!” _Please! I’ll take a plot device miracle right about now!_

 

“ **THREE!** ”

 

He heard them, her kagune, spiraling towards them, aimed to maim.

 

“ **TWO!** ”

 

The ground beneath them crumbled, and he screamed as he and Kaneki fell into the watery abyss.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> There we have it! Chapter 2! Now, chapter 3 won't be up tomorrow, unfortunately, as I'll be a bit busy, but if all goes well, everything will be back on track by Friday! Saturday for the latest ^^. So, for the meantime, I hope y'all enjoyed this chapter! Leave a comment and a kudos if you did! As always, feedback is always greatly appreciated! :D


End file.
